The most valuable experience from an internship - teamwork

Which series of fortunate events led you to start your internship at Adacta?

I was looking for a company where I could complete an internship. ADACTA was one of the companies I sent my internship application to and they responded very quickly.

Shortly after my interview, I was invited to come and work for them. 

Was our job interview for the internship difficult? How did you prepare for it?

The interview was short and it was not that hard, but some basic programming skills were required.

It has already been a month, but can you remember what your first day at Adacta was like?

After arriving, I attended a short training session about the JIRA web application and a GDPR course. This was followed by lunch with my mentor, and after that I started working. On my very first day, I learnt about how ADACTA applications work.

How much independence were you given and were you properly “phased in” to increasing independence?

They told me what my task was and then I attempted to solve it on my own. When I got stuck, my mentor was always ready to help, and he provided guidelines, but I had to find the solution by myself.

At first, I found this approach to work a bit too demanding, but I quickly adjusted and got used to it.

What was the best part of your internship experience?

My expectation was to get experience of working in a big team, which I did. 

The best experience for me was fixing software bugs for the first time, but with the help of the team of course. 

Can you tell us a bit more about the team you were working in?

Every individual was friendly. Whenever I asked someone to help me, they did their very best to advise me.

His co-worker Aleš Potočnik said that during their work together, Daniel overcame problems really fast and that he quickly adjusted and learned how to work as part of the team.

What was your typical day like?

My day began with setting up my workspace and checking JIRA to see whether I had any tasks. I worked in JIRA in line with my instructions. I often talked to my tester for the project I was working on and with other developers who often helped. 

An important part of an internship is having a mentor, someone to guide you and show you the ropes. How did your mentor influence you in your time at Adacta?

My mentor gave me some tips about how to accomplish some things but never told me exactly how to get to my goal. This taught me how to be independent.

I have to say that even though he was very busy, he always found time to help me.

Daniel's mentor – Miha Lešer, also explained the importance and benefits of an internship from his point of view: “The experience was very positive, especially from the point of view that we can give a younger, inexperienced person a real insight into the daily operations of a team on an established product. Besides technical knowledge, we also provide experience, including procedures that need to be done in this industry and the way you need to think about solving challenges and facing difficulties.” 

How do you think you have changed as a person after this experience? (Describe any new attitudes, knowledge, skills, etc.)

Working here was eye-opening. I had never imagined how teams work on large projects before. During the internship, I learnt a lot. For example, programming in C# and SQL and how to effectively combine these two. I also learnt a little bit about how the web works when I tried to get data from a website. I learnt how multiple developers can work on the same codebase without conflicts. I also learnt how to look for errors in a large codebase and how testers can help you implement something effectively.

You probably learnt a lot in just one month. What is the most valuable thing you learnt?

Definitely teamwork.

Other things that were new for me were: Talking to testers who helped me solve problems, and of course the developers showed me how to write code in the most optimal way so that other developers can read it. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your internship?

I'd give it a 10, without a doubt. I learnt a lot and got programming experience. I also got to work with friendly people. 

Would you recommend this internship to a fellow student?

Definitely. 

What's next for you?

After my internship is over, I will work at ADACTA over the summer. The goal is to leave a good impression on the people in the company so I might have an opportunity later if I decide to work here.

An internship is a great opportunity to get to know what working in your chosen field is like. It is also a chance to show your eagerness to learn and work to potential future employers. Even in just one month, you can learn a lot of practical things which will be useful for your studies and later, when you start looking for employment.

Do you want to gain really good experience at the beginning of your career? Check out Adacta's internship opportunities here.